Portable Home Suitable for any Environment

Spanish architecture studio Ábaton has developed a prefabricated house that can be transported by truck and adapt to almost any landscape, from the city to the beach or mountains.

Ábaton is aware of the footprint construction leaves on the environment, and the studio’s main objective is to minimize this as much as possible, which led to the development of the ÁP80 Portable Home, which is a mere 28 square metres in size.

“Our buildings are designed with low-impact, environmentally friendly, recyclable, adjusted cost materials. Rain water returns to the land to maintain the natural dampness,” the architects said. “We apply bioclimatic criteria to all the projects to make them energetically efficient in the short and long term.”

This micro home has been designed to be transported and placed in different scenarios. While the manufacturing time per home ranges from four to six weeks, it only takes one day to assemble each one. Construction is simple and made of resistant materials, chosen to provide both comfort and durability.

The floor space was designed so each different space could receive natural light and so all indoor spaces were connected to the outdoors.

AP80 Portable Home – Interior

Three different modules measuring three-by-three metres result in a 27 square metre dwelling featuring a living room with an incorporated kitchen, a double bedroom and a full bathroom. The gabled roof allows for 3.5-metre ceiling heights, making the interiors feel ample.

Most of the materials used can be recycled and meet the architects’ self-imposed sustainable criteria.

The use of wood throughout the interiors of the building, including floors, walls, ceilings and furniture, unifies spaces while being hypoallergenic. The wood comes from regulated forests and will be regrown to provide a wide range of other benefits such as carbon storage, oxygen generation and forest habitat.

AP80 Portable Home – Interior

While the inside is made entirely of wood, the outside is covered with grey cement board panels, creating a ventilated façade with 12 centimetres of thermal insulation all around the surface. The structure is made of solid timber manufactured, with the inside timber panels made of white-dyed Spanish fir.

Ábaton architects are currently developing a first prototype, which they will continue to improve on.

“We are currently developing simpler series which can be added to the ÁPH80 to suit every particular need, creating larger spaces and contributing to the project’s versatility,” they said.

AP80 Portable Home – Floor Plan

A similar concept has been used in Omnipod project, a prefabricated modular dwelling created by Australian Rosevear Architects and Tasmanian property developer Brett Torossi, which was recently installed on the empty rooftop of an office building in the heart of Hobart, exploring alternative solutions for the high demand of inner-city living.